Ocean City officials: Town is safe (2024)

OCEAN CITY — The city is safe, local and county officials said Thursday during a news conference on the Boardwalk— safe for families, safe for teens and safe for visitors.

But it could be safer with tighter restrictions on the underage use of alcohol and marijuana.

Asked what he would want changed to give police the upper hand after another weekend of problems at the Jersey Shore, police Chief Bill Campbell said, “As it pertains to marijuana and alcohol, to make it illegal for juveniles under 21 to smoke marijuana or to drink alcohol.”

A reporter pointed out that underage use of either subject is already illegal in New Jersey. But with a warning from the cops the only consequence of getting caught, Campbell said both are functionally legal in New Jersey.

Since cannabis legalization, and a series of reform bills that came with it, police and other officials in Ocean City and other shore communities have complained that too many tools were taken from police in dealing with those under 18.

Leonard Desiderio, director of the Cape May County Board of Commissioners and the mayor of Sea Isle City, said at the news conference that Trenton “put the handcuffs on police officers,” a metaphor that has gotten extensive use at the shore.

This was the second year in a row that local officials gathered in front of reporters and TV cameras in the days following Memorial Day weekend. In 2023, huge crowds of teens filled the Boardwalk, and police reported multiple fights, acts of vandalism and aggressive behavior. Police received a huge number of calls that weekend, and videos of chaotic scenes were shared widely online.

That launched a series of new steps to try to rein things in, including a ban on backpacks on the Boardwalk after 8 p.m., which is when beaches were also shut down. There is a citywide curfew of 11 p.m. for juveniles.

This year, the huge crowds were back, with a rundown of calls showing 34 incidents of “juvenile problems” and eight fights. In one Boardwalk fight Saturday, a 15-year-old was rushed to the hospital after being stabbed in the abdomen. There have been no arrests in that incident.

Police reported 1,306 “curbside warnings” in which officers addressed relatively minor infractions including alcohol, cannabis and curfew violations. There were 23 more serious “station house adjustments,” which are not criminal charges but do mean the juvenile is taken to the police station and only released to a parent or guardian with an obligation to perform a later community service.

Most of those were for fights and shoplifting.

No weapons were recovered over the weekend, Campbell said.

The most serious fight was planned among young people who were visiting from out of town, Campbell said, and did not involve other visitors or kids from in town. He said the group came from Atlantic City, Pleasantville and Mays Landing.

He declined to say whether police had a suspect in the stabbing, describing it as an active investigation. Another reporter asked whether the chief meant that young people from Atlantic City and other areas are not welcome in Ocean City.

“We welcome everybody here. What we’re saying, what the mayor said, is if you come here, you need to behave. You need to follow the laws,” he said. “You need to not cause the type of incidents we witnessed last weekend where you’re causing chaos and confusion for all the visitors.”

Assemblyman Antwan McClellan, R-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, spoke of amendments to juvenile justice rules that were signed into law in January, but he added that Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, vetoed one element of the legislation as too strict.

“There was a conditional veto by the governor to make it more friendly, and not give the police the power and authority that they needed,” McClellan said.

Muphy said no to the reintroduction of fines for the underage possession of alcohol, a move that was welcomed by some advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, but decried by others. McClellan promised to keep fighting, saying the matter impacts communities throughout the coast.

“This is not a partisan issue,” he said. “We’re going to continue to fight as a Legislature to make sure that this doesn’t continue to happen.”

There were several instances in which officials overstated the level of restrictions on police.

“Right now they can’t even talk to the teens, no matter what they do,” McClellan said. Campbell made clear later that police officers can speak with teens, and can file charges in serious incidents. But juveniles are not necessarily obligated to give police their names, which can make it difficult to hold them responsible in minor incidents.

Desiderio said Cape May County would not put up with “any B.S.” and called on parents to better monitor their teen children, for their own safety as well as for the communities. He said officials are not looking to issue multiple criminal charges or potentially damage the future of young offenders, but said they need to be held accountable, if only for their own good.

Mayor Jay Gillian praised the police, saying people were back to enjoying their holiday weekends shortly after the events. He added officials have worked to address the issues, and both Gillian and Campbell said there were plenty of police officers on the Boardwalk last weekend and visitors can expect a heavier presence in the coming weeks.

“Everybody loves Ocean City, and rest assured that this summer is going to be a great one,” Gillian said. “As mayor, as always, I’m going to take full responsibility for what happens here in Ocean City.”